Reentering Classrooms: Guaranteeing Qualified Educators for Quality Instruction

In a recent interview on ZIB2, Austrian Minister of Education Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS) discussed the current state of the school system and the ongoing efforts to address the regional teacher shortage.

The good news is that the situation is improving. As of Friday, there were only 265 unfilled teaching positions out of around 120,000, a significant decrease from 403 last year. This positive trend is expected to continue, with 2,000 new applicants having applied for teaching positions this year.

However, Wiederkehr expressed concern about the number of new teachers starting their teaching degree, stating that it is not satisfactory. To address this issue, he plans to promote teacher training in regions with particular needs.

One of the key challenges facing the education system is the language barrier for children who struggle with German. Wiederkehr proposed making summer school mandatory for these children and suggested that they attend German language support two weeks before the school year starts. According to Statistics Austria, 49,000 students needed help with German language support, with those with severe deficits ending up in so-called German support classes.

The school year for the remaining federal states starts on September 8, while in Vienna, Lower Austria, and Burgenland, around 506,000 students will start their education on Monday. In these regions, there will be an increase of 1.8% in primary school students, with 41,000 starting this year.

The total number of students in Austria remains almost unchanged, with an increase of 0.3% to 1,166,000 children and young people. However, the Austrian Ministry of Education expects the largest increase in the number of school starters (Vorkursjahren) by 2025 primarily in Vienna, where the number of primary school students is projected to rise by about 1.8 percent.

Wiederkehr also announced plans to increase the number of newcomers taken on in the education system. In the 2022/23 academic year, 343 newcomers were taken on, with this number increasing to 653 in 2023/24 and 684 in 2024/25.

Despite the ongoing efforts to address the teacher shortage, Wiederkehr assures that there are enough teachers to ensure all children receive a good education. However, he acknowledged that politically, action was taken too late to address the issue of new teachers starting their teaching degree.

In conclusion, while there is still a slight regional teacher shortage, the situation is improving, and the Austrian Ministry of Education is taking steps to address the challenges facing the education system, particularly for children with language barriers and in regions with particular needs.